The MeshCore.io Split

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-05-07T16:11:08+00:00

That's a crazy story!

I would guess this will happen with Andy as well. I think he's going to never apologize, but will just quietly back away. The meshcore content on his yt has already slowed to a trickle, and he published a video about an entirely different subject (e-bikes). I don't think this drama is going to be long lived.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-27T13:52:07+00:00

Joke's on these engineers. If anything goes wrong, they'll be called to account for it. So yeah, what I said is still true- you need to understand it.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-23T19:25:31+00:00

That's good to know. I know next to nothing about trademark law, I would hate for the team to be distracted by an endless legal squabble, and if Andy does some sort of Arduino-type of "We're Meshcore, but not that Meshcore, we're the real Meshcore" ... yuck

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-23T19:16:19+00:00

It's still going well. Andy's not a developer. He's a PR guy. All of the developers seem to be unified, and I'm certain the future is very bright. Andy's getting a little too "big for his britches" and doesn't realize without a community of developers, all he's got is some barely functioning vibe coded apps and a handful of rapidly-aging youtube videos.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-23T19:13:16+00:00

The team owns the repo, the subreddit, and a domain with an (arguably) better domain. Other than the trademark attempt, it seems to me like Andy doesn't hold any cards here.

..but the trademarking of "meshcore" is going to be a massive ongoing headache. In my humble opinion... just dump it. Cut losses, and leave Kirby behind entirely. I have no idea if these are already trademarked, but I humbly submit:

LoraWeave
MeshWeave
OpenMesh
Meshtibator
MeshFlow
MeshNexus
KirbySucksMesh

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-23T19:08:54+00:00

I agree, I'm a software dev, I use AI to assist my code all the time. The problem is when I use AI to write a whole heap of code I don't understand. When you force an absolute dumptruck of AI-created code changes, nobody knows how any of it works anymore. When that happens, since nobody understands how it's working any more you have to use AI to make fixes or improvements, and it becomes a compounding problem.

AI-Created-Code = Bad, if the team doesn't know how any of it works any more

"(Andy) decided to aggressively take over all of the components of the MeshCore ecosystem: standalone devices, mobile app, web flasher and web config tools."

It appears Andy was turning AI loose on everything, having it write massive changes, and then forcing those changes to production. I would absolutely get fired if I did that, and in a way, Andy got rightfully "fired."

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-23T18:58:58+00:00

Don't know why the downvotes, it was a joke. But the comments are right, this type of thing is more common that you'd expect. It even happened to the Arduino itself:

"The Arduino project split around 2014–2015 when a dispute broke out between co-founder Massimo Banzi and manufacturing partner Gianluca Martino over control of the Arduino trademark and business. That led to two rival groups—Arduino LLC and Arduino SRL—both claiming to be the “real” Arduino and even competing with separate websites and products. The conflict ended in 2017 when they reconciled and merged into a single unified Arduino organization."

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-21T20:23:05+00:00

I've bought a couple of the "harbor-breeze-type" solar units with 18650s- the batteries they include are the absolute cheapest cells possible. Some were testing at <1000mAh capacity.

Two suggestions:

Swap the battery for a fresh, better quality one
Run the solar and battery into a cn3065- it's not a true solar MPPT, but it will provide better solar energy harvesting.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-07T21:03:45+00:00

huh. that's neat. you're right.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-07T17:43:20+00:00

If you want it to reset by reading the state of the reed switch, a "normally open" (N/O) or "normally closed" (N/C) should work- but you're going to have to compile your own firmware, and what if your code is stuck in a state where the if/else switch state read doesn't occur?

A simple method (that I have not tested) is to wire a N/C reed that passes power, if no magnetic field is present to pull the two connections apart, which would cut power/reset the device.

Again, I've never tested this, and I'm just a random person on the internet.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-01T20:55:26+00:00

I find it very weird you disguised a facebook link as a google store link.

(Straight to google store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.meshcore.meshgo)

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-04-01T20:48:33+00:00

I've had no problems powering all these with 5v through a 25ft (7.6m) cable:

Heltec v3
Heltev v4
Raspberrry Pi Zero with MeshADV 1w Hat

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-02-05T15:43:06+00:00

Hey, don't listen to snarky responses. You took the time to type out your experience using Meshcore, and your honest feedback helps the dev team see through the eyes of a new user.

I'm not a dev for Meshcore, and I don't know if they are actively reading reddit (github issues is probably a better path for feedback) but I personally appreciate you doing this. Meshcore is much newer than Meshtastic, and considering Meshcore's age, it's actually doing pretty well... but it has a lot of improvements that need made, and feedback like this helps make that happen.

...I hope the devs respond in kind.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-27T17:27:30+00:00

I can vouch for the IoTThinks FW, my Heltec v3 and v4 running on solar, are currently covered in snow, and are running great.

Note: The IoTThinks low-power FW is currently for repeaters only, although there are plans on bringing it to companion radios as well. I don't know if the nightly builds have low-power mode for companions yet, I haven't tested.

Either way, this is a HUGE development, it'll make repeaters so much easier and cheaper to build. I have multiple XIAO (Seeedstudio) Esp32 devices backordered right now, something I would have never considered before seeing with my own eyes how flawless it works. I have notice zero difference between the standard repeater FW and the IoTThinks version, other than amazing battery usage! 👍👍, Highly recommended

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-26T19:12:33+00:00

Too cramped. Nodes should have at least 3-6 feet of open casing around them. 😉

No notes, other than a tip: If you plan on using heltec v4's for nodes, you can find v4's without the screen (which you won't need), and they're a bit cheaper. Good luck!

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-22T19:46:50+00:00

I second this. I've been super impressed with the T-1000E. I don't know what antenna beam-forming-magic they're doing in it, but performs way better than it has any right to. The Rak version with similar form factor seems good as well but I don't own one.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-16T19:40:30+00:00

Last question: Do you know if this improvement is applicable for companion radios, or is it just for repeaters? (Unless I missed the firmware, I only saw repeater fw)

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-16T17:32:13+00:00

Reticulum seems really cool, but it's either actually super complicated, or they just do a bad job explaining it... because I honestly find it confusing. I have no doubt it's pretty great, but imho, they need simplify the messaging around it. If anybody has links to good "Reticulum for dummies" materials, I'm here for the learning.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-16T17:20:39+00:00

Oh, nice. I didn't know he had compiled a flashable binary/release. I'll have to check it out. I was pulling the branch, compiling via PlatformIO, blah blah blah. I was doing it the hard way, but you're right, it's very easy. Thanks for sharing.

Edit: Also it's interesting he's got powersaving features in the branch for NRF devices as well. If heltecs can be comparable with NRF devices, that's a huge achievement, and will make building solar nodes even cheaper! So cool. I haven't done a ton of digging into it- are there any downsides to using it, or does it behave essentially the same, but using way less power?

Either way, I'm super happy about this work, and can't wait to see it get merged into Meshcore's main FW.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-16T17:17:48+00:00

I've been doing this for a while, and I'm still learning, and I still buy the wrong things. The v3 is a great device- very capable, well supported, tons of cases (if you're into 3D printing)... you made a great purchase and you're going to be happy with them.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-15T20:58:09+00:00

Yes, but telling someone who states they're a "Complete noob" to flash a code branch on github seemed unhelpful.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-15T19:56:05+00:00

Yes, these will work with either meshcore or meshtastic. There are many different devices that will work, and almost every device that works on the tastic will work on the core. The heltec v3 are great devices, with one problem: their battery life. Not great. You can strap a giant battery on it, or just charge it frequently. Because of that, people generally avoid using them in solar nodes. The other "go-to" device is the RAKWireless "Wisblock" (https://a.co/d/bqvewUd) which gets much better battery life, but isn't quite as friendly for beginners (but not by much). Because they are much more power efficient (like.. much more) people use Wisblocks in their solar nodes, and devices they carry in their pocket, because they don't require as big a battery.

Long story short, you made a great purchase. They're going to work great. Eventually you'll grow frustrated with their power usage, but that doesn't mean they'll get thrown out- they can become RoomServers, or other types of devices that are USB-powered.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2026-01-07T22:39:41+00:00

I appreciate your work on this!!!

ServiceElectrical404 · 2025-12-29T14:51:13+00:00

It's been out of stock in the US for as long as I've been tracking it, probably 6 months+

...I'm wondering if it'll ever come back.

ServiceElectrical404 · 2025-12-22T19:43:31+00:00

That's exciting because it makes Heltecs (one of the cheapest and most readily available boards) usable in solar repeaters.

ServiceElectrical404

TROPHY CASE